Definitely a European thing. I could never sacrifice kitchen space for my washer & dryer. I much prefer a separate laundry area, even if that means lugging my dirty and clean laundry all over the house.

Not to mention, I don't think I could handle making my kitchen an even busier area by adding in laundry! Though, I could see the up side to having fresh towels at the ready as soon as they were clean.

I hate the 'laundry in the kitchen' thing, and not just because they're noisy. It's not a sensible place to have a washing machine, IMHO. If you can't have a separate laundry room (my dream!), then it makes more sense to have the washer and dryer in a bathroom, which has the added advantage of being closer to the rooms where most of the laundry is actually generated - bedrooms!

Many UK homes don't own tumble dryers, so it's easy enough to fit a washing machine in the kitchen. But they're so ugly, so out of place there! I think there's a growing trend to get them out of kitchens, at least in the UK.

I LOVE this but I grew up in Europe. It works especially well when you have a washer/dryer combo under the counter.

You have to keep in mind: few European homes have dishwashers, so this is usually the space occupied by the clothes washer. And people rarely have separate dryers also. You either have a washer/dryer combo OR you dry outside.

And if you think you're sacrificing space in the kitchen, just think of what you could with your laundry room instead: an extra closet, a pantry or a whole extra room! Definitely worth losing a few cabinets in the kitchen.

I live in a long apartment in Brooklyn, and the bathroom and narrow closet that hides a stacked washer/dryer is across from the galley kitchen. The laundry closet and fridge are on either side of the bathroom, which makes a mini hallway into the bathroom. I love it. Of course my apartment has the strangest layout ever, with triangular bedrooms and angled hallway/dining area.

But I just think it makes sense. I feel weird about laundry being in the bathroom.

If I had a house no way but for a condo this is pretty much the only alternative to shared units so its still a win.

The house we live in now has laundry in the kitchen in a closet with bifold doors. Lots of people were horrified at the idea, but we absolutely love it. The machines are close at hand and taking up no more room than they need ... we hardly ever forget to shuffle loads and the bifold doors keep things pretty quiet. When the laundry comes out, I frequently use the island to fold it. I think it's one reason banishing paper towels has worked so well ... we just throw the cloth towels right in the washer.

I dislike laundry rooms ... the vast majority of the ones I know just hide away messes and waste space. Even if I was building a brand new house, I wouldn't put one in. I'd rather save square footage for a workout room or a craft room.

in poland it is pretty common to see washers in the bathroom (nobody has dryers - either combos or line drying). i've never seen one in the kitchen, although if pressed for space, why not?
i love the attitude that a separate laundry space is a better option - sure it is, but most people outside of north america don't live in giant houses where that luxury can be had.

we moved our laundry area from our cave of a basement up to our kitchen as part of a recent remodel. it is the best thing we've ever done! (house-wise)
we have new, quiet, energy efficient machines in a space which was wasted before. i don't know how i'd ever get laundry done with our new little guy around if i had to go downstairs.
i highly recommend the arrangement!

this is fairly common in high-end nyc single floor apartments. i think it makes sense as it takes less overall space than dedicating a whole room to laundry and losing a closet. how i've seen it is the stacked model behind a cabinet door. not usually a big space hog, since it is the slim / smaller machines. i guess rich people send most of their laundry out so no need for the big ones? what do i know, i don't even have laundry in my building. heh.

My front loading washer and dryer are in my kitchen, behind doors and I love it! Its so nice not to have to go down stairs to do laundry, and yes it can be kinda noisy but just close the closet doors and its not so bad...

I could get used to the idea. It would make multi-tasking that much easier. It looks like these kitchens have ample storage space, so I don't see the machines being space hogs.

I just wouldn't want my w/d near the oven. Psychologically I think that if you cook something with strong odors, they might get into the clothes?

I think just off the kitchen area maybe. That way, you wouldn't have to go far to change loads if you're cooking/baking, but then when you folded, you wouldn't have to clear off counter space to do so.

When I moved into my townhome, the washing machine was in the kitchen, and the dryer was in the garage. I said the first thing I was going to do was move the washing machine. Then I talked to a plumber, who told me how much that was going to cost.

After a few months, I got used to it, and it's really turned out to be convenient. I can keep an eye on laundry while I'm in the kitchen, and having the dryer in the garage means it's not dumping hot air into the house.

I don't think it's just a European thing...but more like not a recent American thing. American houses have gotten bigger and bigger over the years (a terrible thing imo) so there was no need to have a w&d in the kitchen. But older homes often have a space for them in the kitchen.

My house has the same setup as the one in the first picture and I think even the same brand--Bosch. Bosch makes some very small (on the outside) w&d. I definitely recommend getting the pull out tray that goes between the two--it's so useful for putting wet clothes in and taking dry clothes out.

I have always wanted an under-the-counter washer/dryer. I *will* have one one day.

I think that a washer/dryer in the kitchen is a much better use of space than say a dishwasher. Perfectly practical.

I have this though not by choice. It was in my apartment. If I could, I would rather have that counter space, but I love that my apartment comes with machines. To make up for it, I put an industrial table in the kitchen rather than a dinette set. Now I am ample space in a small kitchen.

I live in Portland and our rental home has the washer and dryer in the kitchen. The washer is a top load, so it couldn't be hidden in such a cute way, so I built a retractable top and added a curtain to hide it. It gives us desperately needed counter space and hides the things. But the six months of trying to figure out how to hide them drove me nuts.

My 1970's townhouse has the washer dryer in the kitchen, but it is set back under the stairs so it doesn't jut out in to the kitchen space. It isn't ideal for those of us that HATE folding laundry, but it certainly is functional

I think if I had to have a washer/dryer in the kitchen, it would HAVE to have be behind a door (like photos 1 and 3).

When I look at photo #2, all I can think is what kind of grease/dust/food spatter must be on the side of those units. Blech.

Its the expected thing in most parts of Europe. Even in the smallest of kitchens. Not extra dryers though, you would see a combo washer dryer but rarely would you see a seperate dryer unless it was in a different space (the garage or somewhere like that). Here the washing machine comes before the dishwasher which is totally optional. Very rarely would you find shared laundry facilities in a proper apt block here.

There is never an issue of kitchen smells getting into clothes though to answer a couple of posters. The clothes are in a sealed machine so no risk. Once you empty the washine machine you put the clothes away and you wouldn't be doing that job while in the middle of cooking dinner anyway.

I have lived in Europed (England and France) for the last ten years. I was at first put off by having a washer in the kitchen, but I now find it really practical. Also, it is senseless to complain about them because there is often literally no other place to put them in a normal, "European" sized apartment. There just isn't the space for a "laundry room" when many apartments don't even have closets!

I've lived in houses/apartments with all the mentioned solutions over the years. Grew up with washer in kitchen - convenient, easy, no problem - completely normal in UK where I'm from.
Lived in high end US rental apartment with shared laundry in basement - that was the worst possible arrangement, especially given the extortionate rent! I'd easily have given up a kitchen unit for a washer in my own space to save all that slepping up and down the stairs! Still don't quite understand how that set up gets the ok from people in the States!
Then I had a stacked washer/dryer in my apartment bathroom in Scandinavia - that was ok, but a pain the ass with no counter top space to sort things and the room got really hot.
Now we're lucky enough to have a house with a separate utility room with washer, dryer and indoor and outdoor hanging space for air drying. This is obviously the best solution, but given a small apartment I'd deffo choose space for a washing machine in the kitchen over a pantry cupboard or even a dishwasher. Which, btw are extremely common in Europe bklynchic!

historically, laundry was done in the kitchen. before washing machines, you had to boil water to wash clothes, no reason to move a huge pot of water to a different room.

as washing machines were invented and advanced, they still were usually kept int he kitchen or in a back room off the kitchen (if they were a bit wealthier to afford an extra room like that).

it wasn't until the post-WWII housing boom, that that function was moved from the kitchen to its own room or the basement.

We rent and have our laundry in our kitchen (not in Europe, in middle of Pennsylvania). What's nice is that the side-by-side washer and dryer give me overflow shelving; we put the rice cooker, a bowl of fresh fruit, and an extra drying rack on them when I'm not doing laundry. It's also nice for one person to be folding and the other to be making dinner, and you can still talk together.

Downside: it feels kinda gross having dirty clothes hanging out around your food. Also, it's loud because the washer and dryer aren't hidden in some random nook.

In my dream kitchen, I'm going to have a larger butler's pantry (with a separate door) that has laundry space up one side of it and a marble counter for pastry making on the other side.

Also, to address some speculations from above: no, I've never had food smells get into our clothes (and we do make very fragrant food); and yes, I do have to wash down the outside of the washer and dryer units because food particles do sometimes get on them.